[NHCOLL-L:4041] Natural History Collections in 2019

[Elizabeth Merritt]

A report from the future:
The Center for the Future of Museums 10th annual report, Museums and
Society 2019, details threats to collections care and security.
 
Power and staff shortages challenge the ability of museums to provide
secure, stable, climate-controlled storage for collections. Many museums
have collaborated to create joint storage facilities, some underground
(including in former mines) to reduce HVAC costs and improve security.
The Richard Branson Virgin Atlantic Museum has taken this to the
extreme, housing its collections in a self-contained, orbiting space
station. 
 
Biological collections have exploded in value as medical and
agricultural research companies mine genomic data for solutions to
epidemic disease and crop failure. Consequentially, taxonomic and tissue
collections have become targets for theft, greatly increasing their need
for physical and data security. Some museums supplement their failing
incomes by selling exclusive access to these collections to commercial
firms. This has become a hotly debated issue regarding ethical standards
of conduct. 
 
The large number of museum closures has created numerous orphaned
collections, and the field struggles to sort through what should stay in
the public domain and what will disappear into the private realm (or get
tossed in the trash). Museums have greatly ramped up their efforts to
digitize collections, hoping at least to document the collections they
cannot physically keep. Some archives, after creating electronic copies,
are auctioning off original documents, both to build their endowments to
support basic operations and because they cannot provide adequate
security in the face of escalating theft. This has created enormous
tension between the economics savings of going digital, and the unique
strength of museums as purveyors of authentic experience and guardians
of the real.
 
This scenario builds on the forecasts provided by the Institute for the
Future <http://www.iftf.org/>  in Superstruct
<http://www.superstructgame.org/> , the world's first massive
multiplayer online forecasting game. What do you think the museum field
should do to deal with or avert these crises? The best way to contribute
is to go to the game site, www.superstructgame.org
<http://www.superstructgame.org/> , register as a player, search for,
read , rave and contribute to museum content. If you're not a gaming
type of guy or gal, but want to contribute your two cents, you can go
directly to the CFM report at 
http://superstruct.wikia.com/wiki/Museums_and_Society_2019. Click on the
header of the "Collections Care" section to add your comments. The
completed report will be compiled and released to the field after the
game ends in mid-November.
 
Superstruct is a serious exercise in crowdsourcing futures forecasting.
It is "gaming" with the intent of altering real world behavior. The
greater the number of knowledgeable, creative people contributing to the
content, the more interesting the results. 
 
For more information on how to participate in Superstruct or contribute
to the "Museums and Society 2019" wiki, email 
futureofmuseums at aam-us.org. I hope to see you soon in 2019!
 
Sincerely,
 
 
Elizabeth Merritt 
Founding Director, Center for the Future of Museums
American Association of Museums 
1575 Eye Street N.W., Suite 400 
Washington, DC 20005 
(202)218-7661 
 
Visit the Center for the Future of Museums
www.futureofmuseums.org
 
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